Standing in the Galápagos, it’s hard not to think about evolution, and what it means for oncology.

Dr. John Marshall connects a recent cholangiocarcinoma study to the global evolution of cancer research and care. https://bit.ly/3ZDiQBg

#OncologyUnscripted #CancerCare

What does leadership in oncology look like over time? Sometimes, it’s believing in something before the field catches up. Dr. Marshall and Dr. Weiner reflect on the early days of immunotherapy and what it takes to stay committed to a vision.

Watch the full discussion: https://bit.ly/3ZDiQBg

Mammography should include artificial intelligence support In the past decade, deep learning has increasingly been applied to medical image interpretation, but without consensus as to whether medical practice should change. Many studies show artificial intelligence (AI) enhanced accuracy beyond the performance of radiologists. The most compelling evidence comes from the follow-up of the Mammography Screening with Artificial Intelligence (MASAI) randomised trial, which assessed the reading of two radiologists compared with one radiologist plus an AI algorithm.

Every mammogram should be supported by 3 different AIs for improved detection of cancer, prevention, and risk of heart disease. At no cost to patients.
My new @thelancet.com essay reviews the evidence and the lack of implementation
thelancet.com/journals/lan...

Massive budget cuts for US science proposed again by Trump administration Budget proposal would also curb federal payments for scientific publishing.

Slaughtering our golden goose: massive budget cuts for US science proposed again by Trump administration www.nature.com/articles/d41...

The Shingles vaccine is linked w/ reduced risk of Alzheimer's in 4 large natural experiments
Today, the potential of high-dose flu vaccines vs standard dose in a large retrospective age 65+ cohort for less Alzheimer’s. More pronounced in women (like Shingles vaccines)
neurology.org/doi/pdf/10.1...

More data on this front:

Research in context panel for paper published in The Lancet Neurology, entitled "Global, regional, and national burden of meningitis, its risk factors, and aetiologies, 1990–2023: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2023" Copyright: 2026 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

In 2023, there were over 250,000 deaths from meningitis globally, with over one third in children under five, suggests most comprehensive global assessment to date.

Find out more in @thelancetneuro.bsky.social: spkl.io/63327AF85U @ihmeuw.bsky.social

Trump’s new science advisers include 12 technology chiefs — and one academic Sparse academic presence on the US President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology reflects a focus on technology and industry.

Trump’s new science advisers include 12 technology chiefs — and one academic

Sparse academic presence on the US President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology reflects a focus on technology and industry.

www.nature.com/articles/d41...

>10,000 STEM PhDs have left federal service over the past year (including 30% of the federal colleagues with whom I’ve worked closely). Those still left are holding federal science together with duct tape.

What an extraordinary act of sabotage against the American people.

It's not just vaccines — parents are refusing other routine preventive care for newborns Doctors across the nation are alarmed that skepticism fueled by rising anti-science sentiment and medical mistrust is increasingly reaching beyond vaccines to other safe and routine care for babies.

apnews.com/article/babi...
Parents who decline vitamin K shots are much more likely to refuse getting their newborns the hepatitis B vaccine and an eye ointment to prevent potentially blinding infections.

Doctors are alarmed by rising anti-science sentiment and medical mistrust.

Knock knock, no one’s there. Study finds scientists’ jokes mostly fall flat Survey examines how often academics attempt jokes during conference talks — and how these attempts at comedy land.

“Humour is a skill that scientists don’t necessarily prioritize”😂 in the article literally studying jokes. @nature.com
www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Knock knock, no one’s there. Study finds scientists’ jokes mostly fall flat Nature - Survey examines how often academics attempt jokes during conference talks — and how these attempts at comedy land.

A chemist, physicist, and biologist walk into a bar

go.nature.com/3PwAchm

Automatic enrollment in Medicare Advantage plans under consideration, top Trump health official says The idea could be a major win for the health insurance industry, which has seen a crackdown on Medicare Advantage in recent years.

The idea could be a major win for the health insurance industry, which has seen a crackdown on Medicare Advantage in recent years. www.statnews.com/2026/03/20/m...

Common pesticide may more than double Parkinson’s disease risk A new UCLA Health study suggests that long-term exposure to the pesticide chlorpyrifos may dramatically raise the risk of Parkinson’s disease. Researchers found that people living in areas with sustai...

This stuff is in high amounts in conventionally raised strawberries. Yes, in them--within them. When you eat the strawberry.

I Wrote Research Funding Announcements for NIH for 22 Years. This Year They’ve Published 14 How NIH went from 756 funding announcements to 14 in two years — and what it means for every disease that depends on federal research

“This is not a temporary slowdown. It is a structural collapse”.

A former NIH Program Officer takes a deep dive into the data on the destruction of NIH research funding mechanisms.

The Missing CHIP Ignoring a very informative lab test

erictopol.substack.com/p/the-missin...
A biomarker you might want to know about

China pledges billion-dollar spending boost for science Nature - Funding for national laboratories and important research projects would increase under the government’s plans.

The Chinese government is ramping up its support for science

go.nature.com/3P6OTaY

A line graph showing the fraction of R01 applications funded as a function of percentile for NCI. The estimated success rate for FY2024 was 12.9% compared with 8.5% for FY2025.

4/25

"Unchecked, this homogenization risks flattening the cognitive landscapes that drive collective intelligence and adaptability"

Cancer vaccines are showing marked efficacy vs refractory cancers and are going to be part of the future Rx armamentarium. Beyond that, ultimately, for prevention in high-risk individuals.
A new stellar review @naturemedicine.bsky.social

nature.com/articles/s41...

"When NIH can only fund the top 5 or 6 percent of proposals, what survives is good but conservative science — established labs extending well-established research" 😥

a cartoon minion with a question mark above his head ALT: a cartoon minion with a question mark above his head

Recently had a discussion on “#mentorship”

Many mentors confuse it w/ hyperdelegation

1st clue picking a “mentor”

Did they ever ask what YOU want to do❓

Too many “mentors” presume you want to be them-Do you❓

Choose your path w/someone who asks you the right

"There was a palpable sense of anxiety, if not fear." Rick Pazdur, MD talks candidly about today's FDA and leaving the agency after 26 yrs of building their #oncology program. Check out Ep27 of #OncologyUnscripted at cancercommunicator.com/ou-pazdur
#FDA #MedSky #OncSky

Tragic. Please pass this along to US Chairs and Deans, and consider it when you sit on promotion committees. This, combined with the review backlog, is dire - especially for our early career researchers.

Major US cohort reveals sharp racial disparities in HIV acquisition among trans women At the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI 2026) held in Denver last week, Dr Sari Reisner from the University of Michigan presented data on how many transgender women in a n...

Trans identity has been erased from federally collected data and barriers erected against trans people accessing HIV prevention and care in the US.
Gender affirming prevention and care and inclusive data collection for this population, with acute HIV need, is vital.

Serotonin Modulates Lineage Plasticity in Neuroendocrine Prostate Cancer via Epigenetic Reprogramming

aacrjournals.org/cancerdiscov...

Patients say measles 'worse than expected' as Utah hits 350+ infections, doctors say Health officials plead with residents to vaccinate against measles as Utah hits 358 infections.

120 hospitalized

Crosstalk between EZH2 and DNA methylation mediates neuroendocrine prostate cancer lineage plasticity

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

A more complete set of voices in a companion piece.

www.cnn.com/2026/03/05/h...